Resumen
Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma is one of the most common cancers that arises in the upper aerodigestive tract. Patients suffering from this cancer have a high mortality risk, mainly due to local recurrence, resistance to chemo- and radiotherapy, and metastasis. The more aggressive behavior of this tumor is associated with epithelial?mesenchymal transition, a process described in both physiological, primarily during embryonic development, and pathological situations, including the progression of other types of tumors. Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition is governed by various transcription factors that regulate target gene expression and play a role in the resistance to contemporary head and neck cancer therapies. This review presents the current knowledge of the main transcription factors involved in mesenchymal conversion and discusses their role in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma treatment. The main protein markers associated with this cancer type are also presented.